Chamber Kicks Off the Summer at Dark Sky RV Campground

The Kanab Area Chamber of Commerce kicked off its summer events with the June

luncheon at an outdoor venue – the gathering space at Dark Sky RV Campground.

Chamber president Pat Guerrero welcomed everyone and shared the names of all new

and renewing Chamber members for the month. Then Dark Sky co-owner Rick Kessel

said he was glad everyone had come out to their 40 acres of untouched sagebrush, with

unobstructed views in all directions - the Red Cliffs, Vermillion Cliffs, and the Kaibab

Plateau.

Next, Pat Guerrero introduced the day’s program by telling the group that Utah regularly tops lists of states with best overall economy, economic outlook, business & innovation, best state to start a business, and top environment for small businesses, to name a few.

That’s great news, and the Chamber wants to celebrate business success. Business success also includes a healthy community with healthy employees. The first guest speaker presented resources in our community related to something that’s not so good news.

There’s another list that Utah is high on, that we don’t want to be high on. Utah struggles with concerning rates of sexual assault, with the state's reported rate consistently exceeding the national average. Utah consistently ranks in the top 10 states nationally. And domestic violence against women, and men, are at high rates.

Last year, the first presenter, Mercy Stout, started a new non-profit called REACH Survivor Services. She’s dedicated to reaching and helping survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in Kane and Garfield Counties. Her mission is to provide safety and stability and to promote healthy healing and cycle-breaking change. She talked to the group about the work she’s doing which included mention her need of short-term rental donations of 48 hours to give survivors a safe place to land while they’re working on their next steps. She also spoke of starting to work on education and prevention programs.

The next feature on the agenda was the success of the four businesses that participated in ELEV8 Utah, a product development workshop offered by the Utah Office of Tourism in partnership with the Veneto Collaboratory. This was a master class in creating next-level visitor experiences. Many Kane County businesses applied to go through the program and the four that were selected were all Chamber members. At this luncheon they shared a brief description of their new visitor experiences. First was the Best Friends’ “Healing Hearts, Paws and Hooves: Inside the Best Friends Animal Clinics”, an immersive tour of the Sanctuary’s main clinic, followed by the equine clinic and horsemanship demo in the massive, state-of-the-art covered arena. Next was Shana Clark, owner of Desert Healing Med Spa. She shared her new “Mind Body Wellness” experience that includes hair follicle analysis, yoga in her outdoor Zen Garden, followed by a massage or IV hydration & vitamin infusion.

Following Shana was Julie Williams from East Zion Adventures who presented two new/enhanced experiences, one is Red Rock Slot Canyon – a UTV adventure combining high-speed thrills with quiet breathtaking beauty. The other is the Bison Feeding Adventure at Zion Mountain Ranch, led by Rove & Ramble, LLC. This part of the program was wrapped up by Tiffany Unsworth, co-owner of Kanab Tour Company, who presented their new “Stories of the Night Sky” immersive dark sky experience that takes place at Journey Farms. Guests experience the cosmos through technology, storytelling, and interactive experiences. They enjoy viewing the canopy of stars while relaxing in reclining chairs with blankets and taking some time for "skylence" (silence under the sky). Participants have said It’s transformational! 

The Kanab Tour Company offering was a nice segue to Sylvia Timothy-Sims with Stellar Vista Observatory (SVO), who spoke with the business leaders about SVO’s “Friends of the Night Sky”. This is a free, voluntary community program that assists Kane County business owners in showcasing their commitment to preserving the beauty of our starry night skies. Business owners who install dark sky friendly exterior lighting receive a window sticker and a listing in SVO’s online directory, showing customers they care about keeping the stars shining bright over Kane County.

Tiffany Unsworth added that Kanab Tour Company participated and she was appreciative of the consulting they received on their lighting, including new options and pricing information. Eric Sims with SVO stood to share a story about a group from Ohio he recently took star gazing in the vicinity of Peekaboo Canyon. When they looked to the south, they could see the night glow of the lights in Kanab, and the group asked what part they could play in the quest for dark skies. The mission of SVO is to help people appreciate and comprehend what can be seen in the starry night sky over Southern Utah – less glow, more starry night skies.

Overall, it was a very informative event, covering a lot of different topics. The Chamber luncheons are the second Thursday of each month at varying locations. July’s event will be at the Kanab Center with Kane County Office of Tourism’s director, Janette Peatross, who will be presenting her annual tourism report.